The deal is sealed part 2

It was a 3 hour plus drive to Doncaster but it didn’t felt too far as we were both really looking forward to the off-road experience. We arrived at the MotoParc 20 minutes late but the group has not started the session yet. Upon arrival, we hurried to fill out those registration forms and gear ourselves up for the ride. Those yummy 2010 CRFs were sitting outside the containers just waiting to get warmed up! Excited!!

Prior to this, Nic had only done 5 hours of compulsory basic training to get his legal L-Plate licence on the road. I must admit I was apprehensive about him getting on a full fledged off road bike for the fear of his safety. I believed I must have sounded like a naggy old grandmother reminding him umpteenth times in the car not to push over his limit if he felt he was struggling. I did not want what was meant to be a fun filled day to end up otherwise.

We had a 15 minutes pre-ride briefing from our guide cum instructor. There was one CRF there that was the lowered version and I was quick to let Nic have it as I thought he would have needed it more that I did… WRONG!! After the instructor gave us the green light to start us off at the kids circuit, I clearly underestimated Nic and overestimated myself! Damn! I was falling over like a Rolly Polly! On the third fall, I heard a faint snap on my left knee and as I tried to bounce back up again, my knee felt weak and I knew I injured my only good knee left

I braved the pain and tried to be as nonchalant about it as possible. We continued the ride with short interval of breaks in between. At 12pm, we had our “dinner” that we had pre-ordered on the forms provided. No one had huge appetites as the adrenaline rush kicked in.. everyone just wanted more riding time. After our “dinner”, we were being thrown into the deep end by having to ride on the big boys track. On the rate of zero to ten, I would say the level of difficulty is an eight. I was worried for Nic a hell lot as it was really technical. The track was a full-on motocross track with extreme muddy conditions. The “jumps” were not like what I envisioned, it was more like those hill climbs that I took on in the deeper jungles of Malaysia. Extremely tricky.

Nic on one of the mud section

We both did a couple of laps and then I decided to take 5 as my knee could not handle much longer and I had totally no stamina as well. Result of not being active for more than half a year! I waited for Nic to get tired and suggested to him that we head back to the car and get his camera out for a photo session. I put on my Superdry jacket to shield myself from the cold wind and started posing vainly on the CRF.

We were having so much fun taking pictures, giggling and laughing at our silly poses when Nic walked over to me and said,” Baby you are the most beautiful person I know and I cannot bear to be without you for the rest of my life..” He went down on one knee IN THE MUD and whipped out the ring.. “will you marry me?”

My mouth must have been wide open for a few seconds, enough for a few sand flies to lay eggs in them. I was really taken by surprised in a good way and totally ecstatic! Of course it was a big fat yes! Being with Nic was already the best thing that ever happened to me but a marriage proposal tops everything off. I must have saved a whole truckload of lives in my past life to have deserved someone like him.

The day ended with champagne from the guys at FatCat MotoParc and smiles all around. I went back to Bristol with approximately 1 extra kg of mud, an injured knee, a big fat diamond rock and a handsome fiancee